Editing Christmas stocking (section)

{{Short description|Receptacle for Christmas gifts}}
[[File:Stuffed Stocking (11958233475).jpg|thumb|upright|A filled Christmas stocking.]]
A '''Christmas stocking''' is an empty sock or sock-shaped bag that is hung on [[Saint Nicholas Day]] or [[Christmas Eve]] so that [[Saint Nicholas]] (or the related figures of [[Santa Claus]] and [[Father Christmas]]) can fill it with small [[toy]]s, [[candy]], [[fruit]], [[coin]]s or other small gifts when he arrives. These small items are often referred to as '''stocking stuffers''' or '''stocking fillers'''.<ref name="Lessons"/><ref name="Dixon2016">{{cite web |date=5 December 2016|last1=Dixon |first1=Jeremy |title=Top 10 Christmas traditions and their origins |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/finest-christmas/festive-traditions-origins/ |publisher=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|quote=Leaving stockings out at Christmas goes back to the legend of St Nicholas. Known as the gift giver, on one occasion he sent bags of gold down a chimney at the home of a poor man who had no dowry for his unmarried daughters. The gold fell into stockings left hanging to dry. St Nicholas was later referred to by the Dutch as Sinterklaas and eventually, by English-speakers, as Santa Claus.}}</ref> The tradition of the Christmas stocking is thought to originate from the life of Saint Nicholas.<ref name="Dixon2016"/> In some Christmas stories, the contents of the Christmas stocking are the only toys the child receives at Christmas from [[Santa Claus]]; in other stories (and in tradition), some presents are also wrapped up in [[wrapping paper]] and placed under the [[Christmas tree]]. [[Tradition]] in [[Western culture]] threatens that a child who behaves badly during the year will receive only a piece or pile of [[coal]].<ref name="Lessons">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XEnld0Rzvz8C&q=stocking+stuffers+fillers&pg=PA228|title=Lessons of Christmas|first=Daniel A.|last=Armah|date=1 November 2011|publisher=Xulon Press|access-date=25 December 2017|page=228|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1619048973}}</ref> Some people even put their Christmas stocking by their bedposts so Santa Claus can fill it by the bed while they sleep.